Damage to electronic components from electrostatic discharge is a well-documented problem. The financial cost of such damage can by some estimates exceed ten percent of the annual gross sales of an electronic product. It may also affect productivity and product reliability across a broad spectrum of the electronics industry.
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are one type of electronic component subject to damage by ESD. ESD damage can occur during manufacturing, handling, packaging or installation of LEDs. Large numbers of LEDs are often aggregated onto modules to create lighting systems which require ESD protection. Surface mount and chip-on-board technologies have been developed to provide ESD protection for LEDs and other electronic circuits, but suffer from one or more drawbacks. For example, such technologies may require pick and placement of large numbers of surface mount diodes, and/or complex manufacturing techniques. Circuit boards including integral (e.g., embedded) ESD protection have also been developed to address these issues, but may not provide adequate protection for components such as LEDs. In particular, a circuit board with integral ESD protection may not protect such components against ESD events that produce relatively small voltage and associated current in reverse bias.